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Why is it important to study the scriptures?

The scriptures contain the word of God. Latter-day prophets counsel us to study the scriptures every day, both individually and with our families. Studying the scriptures can help us know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, give us power to resist temptation, and strengthen us in our challenges.

Prepare yourself spiritually

How has studying the scriptures been a blessing in your life? What experiences can you share with the young women?

What verses of scripture do you think could be meaningful to the young women in your class? What can you do to help the young women make their scripture study more meaningful and effective?

Prayerfully study the following scriptures and resources. What do you feel will help the young women understand the importance of studying the scriptures?

Teaching in the Savior’s way

The Savior used the scriptures to teach and testify about His mission. He taught people to think about the scriptures for themselves and use them to find answers to their own questions. How can you encourage the young women to turn to the scriptures to receive direction from the Lord?

Related Youth Activities

Share experiences

At the beginning of each class, invite the young women to share, teach, and testify about the experiences they have had applying what they learned in the previous week’s lesson. This will encourage personal conversion and help the young women see the relevance of the gospel in their daily lives.

Introduce the doctrine

Choose from these ideas, or think of your own, to introduce this week’s lesson:

Invite a few young women to share a favorite scripture. Why are these scriptures important to them?

Show the young women a few items that can guide them, such as a map, a compass, or a GPS device. How are the scriptures like these objects? Invite the young women to share an experience in which they found guidance and direction in the scriptures.

Learn together

Each of the activities below will help the young women understand the importance of scripture study. Following the inspiration of the Spirit, select one or more that will work best for your class:

Invite the young women to read 2 Timothy 3:16–17 and 2 Nephi 32:3. What do these scriptures teach about the importance of scripture study? As a class, review Elder Richard G. Scott’s list of scriptures that have guided his life (in his talk “The Power of Scripture”). Ask each young woman to make her own list of scriptures that have guided her. Ask the young women to share their scriptures with the class and explain how these scriptures have guided their lives.

Invite the young women to read sections of one of the talks suggested in this outline. Ask them to look for blessings that come from studying the scriptures. When have they experienced these blessings in their lives?

Ask each young woman to read one of the scriptures suggested in this outline. Ask her to draw a picture that represents what her scripture teaches, and invite the rest of the class to guess what the scripture says about the importance of scripture study. What experiences can the young women share in which they have seen the importance of scripture study in their own lives?

Invite the young women to watch one of the videos suggested in this outline or to read “The Importance of Daily Scripture Study” from True to the Faith (pages 155–56). Ask them to look for answers to the question, “Why is it important that I study the scriptures?” Invite them to share what they find.

Ask the young women to share what they learned today. Do they understand the importance of scripture study? What feelings or impressions do they have? Do they have any additional questions? Would it be helpful to spend more time on this doctrine?

Teaching tip

“The spirit must be present for a gospel message to be carried to the hearts of those you teach (see 2 Nephi 33:1; D&C 42:14). Therefore, you should use methods that will set the proper tone for the lesson and invite the Spirit” (see Teaching, No Greater Call [1999], 91).

Live what we are learning

Invite the young women to consider how they will live what they have learned today. For example, they could:

Work on Choice and Accountability value experience 1 in Personal Progress and make a plan to develop a habit of daily scripture study or improve their study of the scriptures.

Memorize a scripture that inspires them and share it in class next week.

Share with the young women what they will be studying next week. What can they do to prepare to learn? For example, they could read a talk, watch a video, or study a scripture related to next week’s lesson.